“Mother, forgive these people, I do not know whether I’m going to live.”
These were the last words 19-year-old Setariki Ravato said to Ana Tuineau who visited him at the Lautoka Hospital two weeks ago.
It was also the last time that Ms Tuineau would see him alive.
Ravato, who was known as Esther in the LGBTQI community, succumbed to serious injuries he suffered in a horrific attack.
Recalling the night of the incident, Ms Tuineau said she watched from her flat on Lautoka’s Nede St as group of men and a woman beat up Ravato by the gate of the building.
She said she had treated Ravato as her own son after he began facing problems with his family.
“It was on a Wednesday, and I could hear him running towards the stairs,” she said.
“They came with a rod and hit Setariki and pulled him inside a car.”
Ms Tuineau said he eventually returned from Ba to where they lived on Nede St but appeared to be suffering from internal injuries.
“I gave him money to go to the hospital because he was bleeding,” she said.
“When I went to see him at the hospital, he told me the people who forced him into the car and took him to Ba had inserted a rod in his private parts.
“They tied him up, took off his clothes and beat him up.
“All the while they made fun of him, and kept asking why he was gay.”
Ms Tuineau, who attended Ravato’s funeral at Vatutavui Village in Ba, has reported the matter to the Lautoka Police Station.
Questions sent to the police Western Division media officer and police spokeswoman Ana Naisoro on Thursday remain unanswered.
